


My Wingman's a Middle Schooler

by aj_linguistik



Category: Sword Art Online (Anime & Manga), ソードアート・オンライン - 川原礫 | Sword Art Online - Kawahara Reki
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alcohol, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Getting Back Together, Making Up, Post-Canon, Washed Up Kirito
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:02:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22115314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aj_linguistik/pseuds/aj_linguistik
Summary: It'd be a stretch for him to say that life SUCKS, but he's certainly not enjoying it. It's repetitive. It's lonely. And he's losing his touch with everyone and everything. It seems unfair to blame it on a breakup from almost fourteen years ago. After all, breakups happen, right? Asuna likely wasn't sitting around moping about missing him.He wants to forget, but forgetting is hard. And more than that, he wants to be left alone. So what is he supposed to do when this middle schooler shows up out of nowhere inserting herself into his life so suddenly?
Relationships: Kirigaya Kazuto | Kirito/Yuuki Asuna | Asuna
Comments: 36
Kudos: 90





	1. Surprise Visitor

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I am in a chick-flicky kind of mood. This story was brought to you by "God I Cannot Focus" and a bit of giggling as I thought about this idea.

Adult life feels like a never-ending cycle of the same boring thing. Over and over and over again. Clean the apartment. Get the groceries. Go to work. Do your laundry. Same old, same old. Fill the tank with gas or electricity. Put out the kitchen fire you started because you microwaved popcorn a little too long. Feed the cat. Repetitive. Can’t the cat feed himself? No. Can’t I feed myself?

Wait. Don’t answer that one.

Where was I going with this?

Right. The year is 2041. I’m thirty-three, have a full-time job working on full dive and augmented reality technology for a big company that markets in Neurolinkers. I’ve been working there since I graduated college and am paid quite handsomely since I helped invent the Neurolinker with my amazing team. I live completely alone save for my cat, whose name is Yuuji. I keep to myself for the most part. Most of my friends from high school and college fell out of touch ages ago.

Life isn’t particularly bad. My sister keeps in touch. I think the problem with talking to everyone was with me, truthfully. When Asuna and I broke up, it just never felt the same. I shut myself off from everyone. I’d gone away to college and not bothered to keep in contact outside of playing ALO with everyone. And once I got a nice job, my ALO playing cut down quite a bit until recently.

I shuffled up to my apartment with my groceries, yawning. My Neurolinker was connected to my door’s lock, so when I walked up, it unlocked for me. I opened the door and slipped inside, eager to put away my food and sit down to play a game or watch something on TV. I started to organize the new groceries when I looked down at the bags, counted them, and then realized I left one at the register. Sighing, I whacked myself in the forehead.

“I guess I have to go get that,” I grumbled.

Back out I went. All the way down to the grocery store. I dragged my feet inside and asked the cashiers if they’d noticed what I left. They said they had not. I produced my receipt and hoped they’d at least let me have the items. I was in luck; they bagged up the items I’d paid for and sent me on my not-so-merry way. I was just grateful today was Friday. Tomorrow would be a day of rest. Finally.

I got back home, put up what was left of the groceries, and set about fixing myself something to eat. I wasn’t a super-good cook, but it did what I needed it to. I guess with my paycheck I could have gone out to eat more. It gave me something to do, cooking did. My mom worried that I was too much of a couch potato on my time off. I cooked mostly to do her heart some good. I glanced at my watch, then realized something important.

“Shit! Mom!”

As soon as the words left my mouth, my doorbell went off. I hurried to answer the door. Mom was standing there, smiling up at me and holding a bag. She came inside and revealed the contents—a pack of beers. I wondered did I look that miserable that I needed my mother to go and buy me alcohol.

“What’s all this for?” I asked her.

She looked at me, surprised.

“Your birthday is on Monday,” she said. “Don’t you remember me saying I’d stop by Friday night to celebrate with you?”

A pit formed in my stomach. I hadn’t remembered that at all. My mom cast me a worried look. I really _did_ look sad from her perspective after all. She’d had that worried look ever since Asuna and I broke up. But I was still trying to prove that I didn’t need Asuna to survive. Hadn’t I done well this far? I suppose forgetting something like my birthday told her I hadn’t. And maybe I _did_ still harbor feelings for her. What did that matter? It was over.

“Right, sorry,” I said, faking a smile. “It’s just been one of those weeks at work, you know? I’m really tired. Thank you for coming to spend time with me.”

She didn’t seem convinced, but she didn’t press the issue, either. We shared dinner and talked about work. She didn’t drink any of the beer. It wasn’t her thing. I did make her a nice warm cup of tea, which she was very grateful for. She asked if I was seeing anyone. I told her no. That sad look showed up on her face again. Maybe she knew I wasn’t trying. I hated to worry her, but I wanted to be honest.

At about ten, she left. I think that’s when all hell broke loose in my heart. What pressure had built up over a while finally came bursting out. I finished off the pack of beer and pulled out a bottle of rice wine. A small voice in the back of my head told me not to. I stared at the bottle, gritting my teeth. I pulled the top off.

“I’m not a wreck.”

Famous last words.

I woke up the next morning sprawled out miserably on the floor. My head hurt and swam. I groaned. My stomach was turning flips. I picked myself up and dragged myself over to the bathroom. I threw up enough to tell myself I wasn’t buying any alcohol until my little depressed episode was over. When my stomach was finally empty, I washed my face off in the sink. I popped a few painkillers in my mouth and washed them down with water from the sink. I stared at my reflection and groaned.

“God…maybe I _am_ a mess,” I muttered.

Bags were present under my eyes. My hair looked unkempt and uneven. My face was covered in prickles due to an unshaven beard that I normally didn’t allow to happen. I groaned and reached over to grab my razor. The handle touched my fingers, but then I thought about it. It was Saturday. I didn’t need to worry about the prickles until Monday. I just settled for washing my face and left the bathroom.

I didn’t bother with anything complicated for breakfast. I had some leftover pizza sitting in the fridge and some leftover noodles. I glanced between the two indecisively, and then I settled for the noodles. I didn’t even bother heating them up. Nope. I grabbed some chopsticks, plopped down on the couch, and picked up the bottle from last night to see if there was anything left in it. I turned on the TV and ate my noodles while the news played.

The news was talking about the upcoming elections. It wasn’t anything worth committing to memory. As I chewed on my noodles, I stared at the TV intensely. I didn’t register what was on it other than politicians and reporters talking. It was simply somewhere to rest my eyes. The noise of them talking faded somewhere into the background of my thoughts. I might have fallen back asleep if I hadn’t heard the doorbell ring.

For a moment, I sat there, confused as to who might be calling on a Saturday. I checked my phone for any text messages. Nothing. Maybe I’d just imagined the sound. I shrugged and shoveled some more noodles in my mouth. The doorbell rang again. I froze, with noodles hanging out of my mouth, and told myself I wouldn’t open the door.

Then it rang a third time.

And a fourth.

Grumbling, and not bothering to finish chewing my noodles, I stomped over to the door like a petulant child, irritated with being disturbed while I sulked. I opened the door, ready to give whoever was disturbing me what for, and then stopped myself when I realized I was staring at a child. The kid had to be no older than fourteen and no younger than eleven. I slurped my noodles into my mouth, chewed for a moment, and then swallowed.

“Can I, uh, help you, kid?” I asked.

She looked up at me and raised an eyebrow. Her eyes scanned me, and then she gave me a funny look.

“Do I have the right address?” she asked.

I sighed.

“Doubt it,” I said. “I don’t know any kids.”

She rolled her eyes and pulled a slip of paper out of her pocket. She frowned down at it for a second, and then she looked up at the apartment number next to me. I tilted my head and wondered who she was looking for. I checked around the area and saw no adults with her. It wasn’t too odd for a middle schooler to be wandering around, but it did seem weird that she was looking for someone all on her own.

“Who are you looking for?” I asked. “If they live in the same building, I can point you in the right direction, most likely. I know the majority of my neighbors’ names from seeing their mailboxes near mine.”

The child gave me an odd look but shrugged.

“Okay,” she said. “I’m looking for Kirigaya Kazuto.”

I almost choked on the air entering my lungs.

“Are you okay, mister?” she asked.

I patted my chest and nodded.

“Y-yeah,” I stammered. “You have the right address. But why are you looking for me?”

Her eyes widened with shock.

“ _YOU_?” she said.

I nodded.

“Yeah, I’m Kirigaya Kazuto,” I said. “I’ve had that name for almost as long as I’ve been alive. I repeat…why are you looking for me?”  
Her shoulders drooped a little.

“What do you mean ‘almost?’ Weren’t you born with that name?”

I narrowed my eyes.

“I was adopted,” I said curtly. “Are you going to answer me?”

She huffed.

“You’re kinda rude,” she said.

“So are you!” I shot back.

We stared at each other intensely for a few moments. She then broke eye contact and reached down into her pocket to grab something. When she removed her hand, she pulled out something that made my heart leap into my throat. I hadn’t seen that object in years. I had to resist the urge to cry in front of some kid I’d just met. I subconsciously reached out to grab it. She covered it back up with her fingers.

“Ah, so you _are_ him,” she said. “I had to make sure. Seeing as you recognized this ring, it seems you are the man my mother talked about.”

I felt my chest tighten up.

“Your…mother?” I managed.

My eyes rested on her closed hand. In that hand, to my shock, was the ring I’d given Asuna back when we were teenagers. I was certain of that fact. And this kid was claiming she got the ring from her mother? I could already feel my heart shattering more from the thought that I was looking down at Asuna’s child.

“God, you’re making an awful face,” she said. “Do you want to sit down?”  
I frowned at her.

“You should leave,” I said.

I moved to close the door. I didn’t want to deal with this any longer. Even just a few moments of thinking about it was making me consider going to purchase more alcohol. I tried to slam the door, but the girl stuck her hand in the gap and pushed against me, trying her hardest to keep the door open.

“Would you hold on a minute?” she said.

She certainly had Asuna’s tone. I grimaced.

“Go back to your mom, kid,” I said. “I’m busy.”

The girl huffed.

“Stuffing your miserable face with noodles?” she asked. “You aren’t busy! Hear me out for a minute! Whatever you’re thinking, just pause those thoughts for a minute. What a pathetic hero you turned out to be! Were you like this when you were dating my mom?”

I pushed harder against the door.

“Shut up!” I said.

She pushed back.

“Just give up and let me in, Dad!”

Something in my brain snapped. I stopped pushing the door. She didn’t. She pushed forward as hard as she could and sent me flying to the floor. I landed on my face right in front of the step up into the apartment. I was too numb from my second shock of the morning to pick myself up. The girl stepped into the apartment, just freely inviting herself in, and closed the door. I slowly picked myself up into a sitting position and stared at a point on the wall. The girl knelt down and gave me a funny face. She stuck a hand out to me.

“My name’s Yuuki,” she said.

I blinked at her, and then looked down at her hand. She wiggled it a little. I swallowed, looked back up at her, and then lifted my hand to shake hers. She gave me a smile.

“N-nice to meet you,” I said automatically.

Yuuki giggled.

“I know this is surprising,” she said. “But…”

She reached over without a care and placed her other hand on my shoulder.

“I’m your daughter.”


	2. A New Title

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I literally wrote the whole second chapter, hated it, deleted it, and then wrote an entirely different second chapter. Sometimes life be like that.

Sitting on my couch, I tried to run the information through my own mental logic circuits a few times over. Yuuki was fourteen years old and had just had a birthday in July. Asuna and I had broken up in February of 2027. Which meant that Asuna would have been about sixteen weeks pregnant _at the time of our breakup._ The timeline definitely matched up. And as far as looks went, now that I had a good stare at the kid—it was difficult to refute.

She had short cropped black hair and dark eyes, but her face was totally Asuna’s. From the shape of her chin to the curve of her nose, that was definitely Asuna’s face. The way she grinned at me definitely wasn’t Asuna’s smile, though. If I pulled up a picture of myself as a teenager, that was totally my smirk.

Across from me, she sat in the armchair with a cup of tea in her hands. Her eyes focused on the mostly empty bottle of rice wine sitting on the coffee table. I frowned and thought about the sort of image I was projecting to her now. What had her hopes been when she’d come out here to find her father? I doubt it was something like me. She reached down by her feet to pet Yuuji as he padded by to inspect my unexpected guest.

“Oh, hi there!” she said, stroking his head. “What’s your name?”  
I awkwardly worked my jaw around for a moment.

“His name is Yuuji,” I said.

Her eyebrows perked up.

“Close to my name!” she said. “What kanji?”  
I frowned.

“None,” I said. “Katakana.”

She tilted her head.

“Why?”

My shoulders sank a little bit.

“I…named him after a friend who died,” I said. “Look, this is kind of. I dunno. Awkward? I’m not sure what to say. I didn’t know…Asuna never told me she was pregnant…”

Yuuki smiled and sat back up. She was already pretty odd.

“She mentioned my dad didn’t know,” she said, very matter-of-factly. “I’ve bugged her about you for _years_. She kept saying that she just didn’t want to talk about you. When I finally asked her the other day, she admitted she dumped you and didn’t even bother telling you about me. She said she’d feel guilty dumping you and then reaching out for child support. She apparently asked Aunty Shinonon to not say anything to you. I was like…whoa…dad knew Aunty Shinonon?”

I felt my shoulders tense up.

“Sinon…knew…” I muttered.

Yuuki let out a snort.

“Oh my god, did you game with Aunty Shinonon?” she said. “That’s her GGO handle, isn’t it?”

I frowned.

“Of course, I gamed with Sinon!” I said defensively. “Your mother wouldn’t even have met Sinon if I hadn’t played GGO with her first.”

She was giggling profusely.

“You’re so defensive,” she said. “But I didn’t come over her to rub in that mom hid me from you for fourteen years.”

I gave her a skeptical look, and then shifted awkwardly when she hopped out of the chair and came to sit next to me. She was grinning up at me with a rather mischievous smile. I swallowed. Was this how people used to feel when I made that sort of a face? She raised her right hand, clenching it into a fist.

“I think mom would be really happy to see you again,” she said.

The words should have hit like a hammer driving home a nail, but instead, it felt like tension bursting in my chest, causing a feeling of intense relief. I pressed my hand to my heart. Asuna wanted to see me? My heart raced in my chest. Her image was crystal clear in my mind. Her long, chestnut-colored hair. Her lively eyes. That soft smile she wore when she called out to me. My chest started to ache.

“You…you really think so?” I said.

Yuuki nodded.

“She kept this ring, after all,” she said. “You proposed to her with it, right?”

I stared down at my knees and let out a dry laugh.

“S-something like that,” I said.

She tilted her head to look at me.

“Would you be interested at all?” Yuuki asked. “I know it’s been years and there’s probably a lot of bad feelings. Especially since I know you got dumped. And I know you might have a girlfriend by now…you…don’t appear to have a wife…”

I gave her a funny look and then glanced at my left-hand ring finger.

“What gave that away?” I asked.

Yuuki looked around the apartment.

“You’re messy as hell and clearly haven’t bathed,” she said. “There’s a joke in my crowd that straight guys are such a mess without a wife.”

I frowned at her.

“Who are you calling straight?” I muttered.

Her eyebrows shot up. I held up a finger.

“Bisexuals can be messy, too,” I said. “But I guess you’re right. Asuna would never have let me get away with living like this. My mom didn’t say anything. And my sister never really comes over to visit…”

Yuuki leaned forward.

“I have an aunt?” she asked excitedly.

I blinked and laughed awkwardly.

“Yeah, I guess so,” I said. “Did Asuna’s brother not marry or something?”

Yuuki frowned.

“Well, no,” she said. “He’s too busy and he’s always in the U.S. to even visit. Grandma and grandpa also don’t like to visit too much. Mom told me the other day it’s actually because they’re mad mom is a single parent. So, I’ve always just considered Miss Asada my aunt.”

“Ah…”

Yuuki shook her head.

“But there’s my point,” she said. “If you want to see mom again, or at the very least willing to, we’ve got to fix you up! I mean, what is all this!”

She reached over and put her hands on my face. She rubbed them over my stubble and started laughing. I didn’t see what was so funny. She backed up and waved her hand. I subconsciously placed a hand over my mouth.

“Does my breath smell?” I asked.

“Were you drinking this early?” she asked, still laughing. “God, we need to get you fixed up.”

We both glanced over at the bottle of rice wine.

“Put on something decent!” Yuuki exclaimed.

I sat up straighter and stared at her, wide-eyed.

“What on earth for?” I asked.

She gave me that smirk again—the one that reminded me of a younger Kirito who was always bullshitting his confidence because he had a goal in mind. Just seeing that smile made me relax a bit and return it. She pointed over to the front door.

“Me and Mae-chan are gonna fix you up!”

I blinked at her.

“Who’s…Mae-chan?” I asked.

* * *

The day was too bright. Considering I still had a bit of a headache from my hangover, the last thing I wanted to do was go outside in the bright sunshine and meet a second new person. A part of me was fearful that this Mae person was Yuuki’s twin—I didn’t know if I could handle learning I was a father of two in one day. I told myself to calm down. If Asuna had been sixteen weeks pregnant with twins, there was no way I could have missed something like that. Mae must be one of Yuuki’s friends.

As we walked along, I noticed Yuuki had a sort of spring to her step. She seemed to be in rather high spirits. She turned to look at me and stopped in her tracks. Her cheeks reddened with a bit of embarrassment. I stopped beside her and frowned.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

She sighed deeply.

“Dad, there’s someone I like,” she said.

She lifted her left shoe and tapped the toe of it against the sidewalk. She squirmed back and forth a bit. Her cheeks looked a bit rosy as she stared down at the ground. I wasn’t quite sure what to say to this. Being called ‘dad’ already felt odd; it was one thing for Yui to call me ‘papa,’ but hearing this middle schooler refer to me that way was strange. I tried to think of the most father-like response to give her.

“If he mistreats you—”

“Of course, you jump straight to that!” Yuuki exclaimed. “I haven’t even asked her out yet, so, just calm down!”

She bopped one of her little fists on my arm. I found myself chuckling. She stepped back and gave me a weird look. I waved my hand.

“Sorry, sorry,” I said. “You just. Remind me of Asuna.”

Our eyes met. She seemed a bit surprised. It made sense that she’d act a bit like Asuna. It was Asuna who’d raised her, after all. She lowered his fist and bit her lip. Maybe saying that was a little too weird for her. Yuuki tilted her head and then looked back up at me, smiling rather brightly.

“I’m relieved,” she said. “It looks like you do still love my mom.”

I laughed.

“I guess…you’re right,” I said. “But, you were trying to tell me you liked someone. Is she nice?”

Yuuki reverted back to a bashful state.

“Um…y-yeah,” she said. “She’s amazing. And. I needed you to know because. She’s the girl I asked for help today.”

I hummed.

“Ohh, this Mae person,” I said.

She nodded.

“Her name is An Maeko,” she said. “One of mom’s friends adopted her.”

I raised my eyebrows.

“Siune adopted her?” I mumbled.

I was way out of the loop. The only person I’d played any games with that I still kept in contact with was Argo. Well, you could include my sister, but she probably stayed in contact because she was my sister. Yuuki turned to look over her shoulder and her blushing intensified. There was a girl at the end of the street waving in our direction. She hurried over towards us. She must have been Maeko. Yuuki grasped my hand and pulled me forward a few steps. Her bashful face vanished, replaced by a confident face that gave away no secrets.

“Mae-chan!” she exclaimed. “Look who I found!”

The other girl, who was a very girly looking sort of popular girl image, looked me up and down appraisingly. She frowned for a moment, and then she burst out laughing. Yuuki started laughing too. I didn’t understand what was so funny.

“So, this is the guy, huh?” Maeko said. “We have a lot of work to do.”

I frowned.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I grumbled.

They both ignored me.

“Yep!” Yuuki said. “This is the man. Kirigaya Kazuto is his name. And I think we have a pretty good chance at setting him and mom up again.”

I blinked at the two of them.

“Wait, wait, wait,” I said.

They glanced up at me, patiently waiting.

“Look, I appreciate that you’re both very eager to get me to meet my ex-fiancée again, but this isn’t some chick flick where a few well-pulled off tricks can help you fall back in love with someone,” I said. “Asuna had her reasons for dumping me. And sure, I’m hurt by that because I love her very much, but…are you really sure she wants to see me again?”

The girls smirked at each other and then turned back to me.

“Mr. Kirigaya, I’ve even seen the fact that Ms. Yuuki keeps the engagement ring you gave her,” Maeko said. “If she didn’t still have feelings for you, then why would she keep that ring? Hmm? Hmm?”

I leaned back and let out a nervous laugh.

“I guess that makes sense…”

They giggled.

“It’s settled then, Dad!” Yuuki said.

I gave her a funny look.

“What’s settled?” I asked.

That smirk showed up again. I felt my stomach drop. What had I gotten myself into?

“It’s makeover time,” she said, her eyes flashing dangerously.

Oh no.


	3. A Little Fast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I had some spare time to squeeze out a chapter. I hope it's enjoyable! And I hope everyone is staying safe!

There was only one word to describe the situation—awkward. No, maybe that wasn’t quite right, either. Yuuki and Maeko practically dragged me into Maeko’s apartment and forced me into a chair, which wouldn’t be too much of an issue if the two girls weren’t fourteen and I wasn’t a man in my early thirties. I’d protested going into the apartment, but Maeko insisted that Siune wouldn’t be in until after I was long gone. So, I sat there, rather dejectedly, and stared at a point on the wall while two teenagers whispered about my fate.

They were flipping through a magazine, pointing at different things and giggling. Every so often, one or the other stole a glance at me. Yuuki made hand motions that told me she was looking up videos on her Neurolinker. I suddenly felt very fearful. Two teenagers were going to give me a makeover that I definitely did not ask for. Maeko reached over to me and shoved something in my hand. I glanced down at it.

“This is a toothbrush,” I said, blinking at her.

She grinned.

“Excellent observation, Mr. Kirigaya!” she said, her tone a bit condescending. “Your breath smells so much like booze that I can smell it from here. You should take care of that.”

Yuuki placed a tube of toothpaste in my other hand and nodded.

“Agreed, Dad,” she said. “Go scrub them again.”

I grumbled, not wanting to be told off by kids, but marched into the bathroom to humor them by brushing my teeth a second time. I made sure to really scrub my tongue this time, since they swore they could smell the alcohol in my breath. When I marched back into the room, Yuuki grasped my wrist and swung me back into the chair I was sitting in before. She then tossed an apron over me and held up a pair of clippers in one hand and a razor in the other. I swallowed.

Yuuki grasped my chin and turned my head from side to side, humming as she did so. I kept my eyes locked on her. Was I really about to let a teenager do this? She ran her finger over my stubble and giggled again. I knit my brow. She picked up her hand and ran her fingers through my hair.

“When did you last shower?” she asked. “Augh! Dad…Maeko, help me tilt the chair back.”

I felt them both grab the chair and lean it over. The world quickly flipped on its side. I yelped and clung to it.

“THIS IS NOT A RECLINER!” I exclaimed.

Maeko shook her head.

“Don’t be such a crybaby, Mr. Kirigaya,” she said. “You want me to douse him head-first?”

I scrunched up my face.

“I just need his hair to be clean, don’t drown him, Mae-chan!” Yuuki said. “Dad, close your eyes. I’m not a professional at hair-cleaning. Or, you know what, just…here.”

She slapped down a washcloth over my eyes.

“Yes…thank you…” I mumbled.

Secretly, I wanted to run away. I had no reason to stay put. But if I ran out of this apartment, I’d be showing Yuuki a very weird image of who I was. I still didn’t know what kind of impression I wanted her to have of me, but a man scared of his daughter giving him a haircut was definitely not the image I was going to settle for.

The water turned on in the sink they’d stuck my head in. I did my best not to jump when my hair got soaked. They went back and forth for a few moments while Yuuki made sure all of my hair was wet about what kind of shampoo they should use on “an old man.” I told them I wasn’t old, but they just brushed me off and decided that floral-scented women’s shampoo was fine enough, to my dismay. Whatever they used smelled faintly of sakura blossoms.

“There! Nice and clean and ready for a trim!” Yuuki said.

There was a jolt as they roughly flipped the chair back upright. I groaned and removed the partially damp washcloth from my face. I sat forward a bit, but Maeko pushed me back so I was sitting straight up. Without warning, I felt the clippers snip off a chunk of my hair. This was actually happening.

“Oi! Don’t just chop that much off!” I yelped.

Maeko laughed.

“Scaredy-cat,” she teased.

I frowned at her.

“Has she done this before?” I asked.

Maeko nodded.

“Plenty of times,” she said. “Yuu’s actually really good at doing hair. So, don’t be too worried. Your hair will look very nice. However, I, on the other hand…I have never shaved a man’s face in my entire life.”

She reached over me, grabbed a can of shaving cream, and sprayed a bunch out into her hand. I swallowed. She rubbed it all over my face. Then, she picked up the razor and brandished it for me to see.

“Hold still, Mr. Kirigaya!” she said.

I could feel myself trembling.

“Don’t you dare!” I said.

My threat was little more than a complaint in the eyes of two very determined teenage girls. I will admit that the fear of having a potentially messy haircut was completely overtaken by the new fear of an inexperienced hand putting a razor to my face. The time seemed to drag on. As soon as it was over, however, it had only been about fifteen minutes. Maeko shoved a towel onto my face to clean off leftover shaving cream.

The girls once again picked up the chair, this time opting to spin me around to face a mirror. I blinked at myself and wondered if I was looking at the mirror right. As Yuuki kept drying my hair, I stared at my face. The kid had actually done a pretty decent job of cleaning up my facial hair. Yuuki pulled the towel away from my head and the apron off of my neck, and then she pulled out a hairdryer to finish up the job. With my hair trimmed so much, I already looked more put together than I had twenty minutes ago.

“There,” Yuuki said. “You look like you actually care about your appearance now.”

I shot her a look.

“Hmm…now what?” Yuuki said. “We’re going to have to clean up that apartment of yours. I can’t let mom see _that_.”

I shook my head.

“I appreciate the gesture and the impromptu barber shop treatment, but I’m not planning on inviting Asuna over,” I said.

Yuuki frowned at me for a moment, turned to Maeko, asked her to leave us alone for a moment, and then turned back to me while she waited to hear the door close behind her. She crossed her arms over her chest and gave me a frustrated look.

“So, you don’t want to see mom?” she asked.

I put my face in my hands.

“It’s not that,” I said. “Look, this is complicated. I don’t expect a kid to understand that. I know you want your parents together, but it’s just not realistic. I haven’t spoken to Asuna since before you were born.”

Her face scrunched up a bit.

“Can’t you just try?” she asked, her voice wavering a little. “For me?”

I was already screwing up. I grabbed the sides of my head.

“Yuuki, really, it’s…it’s a lot,” I said. “I have a daughter? Asuna still holds onto something I gave her asking her to marry me? You want me to meet up with her after all of these years when she didn’t even reach out for child support? Yuuki, it’s a lot to take in in one day.”

I drew in a deep breath and looked up at her. Her face was still scrunched up like she wanted to cry. Swallowing, I awkwardly reached over and grasped her hands. She bit her lip. I pulled her a little closer. I’d never done any real parenting in my life—Yui was a program and didn’t have these sort of complicated human reactions and desires. But I had to try my best for Yuuki here and now.

“Hey,” I said. “I appreciate this. I do. I…I’m glad you wanted to come and meet me. And I won’t lie; hearing that Asuna kept that ring means a lot to my heart. But I can’t just run up and meet her today. I need time to think things over. I didn’t even get a nine-months’ notice that I was going to be a parent like Asuna did. I opened my door this morning and I suddenly have a middle schooler for a kid…that’s a lot to take in on its own.”

She didn’t say anything, but her face relaxed and she nodded.

“I know you’re eager and it’s not fair,” I said. “I will try, okay? Just not…not so fast. I can give you my contact information. I can let you know when I’m ready. Is that okay?”

Yuuki stared down at the floor for a moment. She looked up at me, frowning, and then gave me a small nod. I gave her an awkward smile, ready to thank her for understanding, when she did something completely unexpected. She took her hands out of mine and wrapped her arms around my neck to hug me.

“Can I visit you?” she asked.

The question was another left field idea that I hadn’t been expecting. How did Asuna feel about this? She likely had no idea that Yuuki had come all of the way out here to meet me. It felt a bit unfair to meet with our kid behind her back like this, but when Yuuki pulled away and gave me the biggest puppy eyes I had ever seen, something felt like it broke in my chest. I reached up and cupped her face in my hand. She seemed surprised at the action.

This girl was my daughter. I helped make her. And while I didn’t want to insult Asuna’s decision, it certainly hurt that I hadn’t even been told I’d fathered a child. The eyes looking back at me with a bit of surprise and a strange sense of longing to know me better weren’t just a random stranger’s eyes: they were _mine_. An awkward laugh escaped my throat.

“I think I’d like that,” I said quietly.

We smiled at each other.

“Eager to get to know you, Dad,” Yuuki said, laughing.

I nodded my head.

“Likewise.”


	4. Digging for Clues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This was LITERALLY done like 3 hours ago but my internet was done for. So, I'm online, and I'm tossing you this update.

Something had always plagued Yuuki about her childhood—the absence of a second parent. Television often showed the image of a happy couple raising a child, but she only had a single mother. Yuuki Asuna wasn’t married to anyone; she had no boyfriend, no girlfriend, no lover…and certainly not a spouse. So, at first, Yuuki presumed she’d been adopted.

She heard about adoption from a friend in grade school. The girl, Maeko, was adopted herself. Maeko explained to Yuuki that sometimes parents weren’t the people who actually made you. They were the people who loved you most and raised you. From Maeko’s perspective, her mother was the woman who’d adopted her, not whatever pair of humans that had physically created her.

But Yuuki’s story, she’d later come to realize, had nothing to do with adoption. Flipping through some pictures of her mother, she wound up locating a few images of her with her so-called Aunt Shino that revealed her mother had been pregnant. Yuuki was her mother’s birth child. This only led her to have the burning question in her heart?

Who was her father?

How much digging had it taken? She’d researched some pretty odd things. Asuna wasn’t closed off, so to speak, but she seemed very selective about the information she did give Yuuki. She’d only really given her one piece of valuable information—a ring she kept on her nightstand was the ring Yuuki’s father had used to propose. She hadn’t given a name or a year or even what he looked like. But there had been a forlorn look on her mother’s face, as if she were recalling a sweet memory that hurt her. There was a smile in her eyes that Yuuki had never seen before, and thus, she’d made her decision.

“Mom! I’m home!” she called, bursting through the door to toss her shoes off.

For a moment, she heard nothing.

“Yuuki, how many times have I told you to be gentle with the front door?” Asuna called back.

Yuuki rolled her eyes. She slipped into her house slippers.

“Sorry,” she grumbled.

She walked into the kitchen area, where she was certain her mother’s voice had come from. As expected, Asuna was hovering over the stove stirring something. The aroma hit Yuuki’s nose, resulting in a bit of uncontrollable drool dripping out of her mouth. Her stomach let out an obnoxious growl. Asuna laughed and turned around.

“It’s almost ready,” she said. “Were you out with Maeko?”

Yuuki nodded. It wasn’t one hundred percent of a lie. Maeko had been there for a part of the day, assisting in a very impromptu makeover for a gentleman by the name of Kirigaya Kazuto. She’d gone out of her way to locate this man after doing extensive research and narrowing him down as the man who’d donated a bit of his DNA to her creation. She found herself snickering at the thought. _That guy_? Slept with _her mother_? Hopefully he’d been a bit more clean and smelled a lot less like beer.

“What’s so funny?” Asuna asked.

She couldn’t very well admit that she was imagining this dork she just met as being her mother’s lover, so she just shook her head and waved her hands.

“Maeko and I played makeover today on an unwilling victim,” she said.

Again, not a total lie.

“Oh?” Asuna said. “Anyone I know?”

_You have no idea, Mom, you have no idea_.

Once more, Yuuki was having to hold back a circumstantial laugh. Kazuto’s request had been to not rush him on this sort of thing. He clearly was still pretty madly in love with her mother; she could tell that fairly easily. He practically wore his feelings on his sleeve. She was at least glad to know that the man who’d knocked up her mother loved her so much, but she couldn’t help but think of him as a total simp.

“O-oh, I don’t think so,” she said. “Riri’s older brother.”

Asuna looked like she choked a little bit.

“I didn’t know Riri had an older brother,” she said. “Why were you giving him a makeover?”

Yuuki scratched at her temple, trying to run through convincing lies in her head. The last thing she wanted to do was admit she’d found her father without her mother’s permission. Suddenly, she could see why Kazuto was so distraught. What would her mother say if she knew Yuuki had gone through so much research to find him? Would she be angry? The engagement ring she’d pilfered started to burn a hole in her pocket.

“Oh, he, uh…don’t laugh,” Yuuki stammered. “He…he wanted to try drag.”

The lie gave her the undesired image of Kazuto dressed in drag. No longer able to hold in the laughter, she doubled forward and let out a hysterical shriek. Asuna turned around and put her hands on her hips, likely wondering what was so funny. Yuuki hurriedly excused herself, saying she needed to relieve herself after such a belly laugh. It was the best excuse she had to get away and go put the ring back. She took a tip-toe detour into her mother’s room, placed it back on the nightstand, and then hurried into her room.

Eventually, she would need to either tell her mother or determine a way to surprise her with Kazuto that wasn’t likely to result in a negative reaction. She closed her bedroom door and plopped onto the floor to pull some shoujo manga off of her shelf. Were any of these good examples of how to have two lovers, who were separated for some time, met again somewhere? She’d find something that worked. Telling her mother the lengths she’d gone through seemed riskier than staging some kind of meeting.

_The lengths I’ve gone through, huh_?

How had she found Kirigaya Kazuto? It wasn’t easy. He wasn’t listed on her birth records; her father was marked as “Unknown.” Whatever he did to get dumped, he must have really pissed her mother off, she’d originally thought. Or, as she’d come to realize in her research, he was just that good of a hacker. But even then, how had Yuuki come across his information? All she had to go off of was the ring.

Or so she’d thought.

A few household items had aided in her search. Firstly, yearbooks. She’d used those to determine that her mother was an SAO survivor, something Asuna never really mentioned. But after looking up the name of the school, she’d put two and two together. That school had been opened for victims of the infamous SAO Incident. Now, she couldn’t just assume that her mother dated someone that also went to the survivor school. Thus, she’d had to play dirty.

Asuna’s old diary was kept in a locked desk drawer, likely to keep Yuuki out of it. Naturally, it didn’t stop her from watching her mother very closely. She figured out where Asuna hid the key, and, while Asuna was at work, she’d slipped into her office space, unlocked the desk, and flipped through the diary to see if her father’s name was dropped anywhere. At first, she noticed a lot of mention of things like dates with someone under the name ‘Kirito.’ It didn’t stand to reason that she’d only date one person, but then she saw some entries leading up to a date where he’d promised to ‘give her something special.’ After the date, which was apparently romantic and had to do with star-gazing, they were officially engaged.

“Kirito is an odd name,” she’d found herself muttering.

Which led her back to the SAO Incident. She picked up a volume of the account of the event and skimmed through the pages. Kirito was the name of the guy deemed responsible for clearing the game and freeing the remaining players. Out of respect, his legal name had been omitted from the volume. She cursed such respect and went back to flipping through the yearbook, hoping that Asuna had drawn hearts over him or something. No such luck. Their player names weren’t listed in the yearbook, either.

She’d run out of convenient clues hiding in her own home. Her groundbreaking tip-off had actually come from within ALO. She’d made an avatar to play with her mother sometimes, but the game, even for its age, really had an appeal to her. She’d dragged Maeko into it. As they were on a quest, they’d bumped into a weird player who was trying to use two swords at once. Maeko had been the one to approach him.

“Hey, dude, there’s no dual-wielding skill in ALO,” she’d said. “Nice trying, though.”

He turned and smiled rather impishly at her.

“Ah, sorry, I knew that,” he said. “I developed a technique called ‘Skill Connect’ some time ago. Sorry to disappoint you, but I’ve been ‘dual-wielding’ for a while.”

Maeko crossed her arms and huffed.

“Cocky bastard,” she muttered.

He sheathed his swords, clearly making a show of not wanting to show them his trick.

“What brings a pair of newbies out here to such a high-level dungeon?” he asked. “Need an escort?”

Maeko huffed.

“No thank you!” she said.

Yuuki laughed and shook her head.

“Actually, I don’t mind if he tags along,” she said. “My name’s Raimei. And the girl acting like she’s irritated is Shark.”

He nodded his head.

“Nice to meet you,” he said. “My name’s Kirito.”

The name coming out of seemingly nowhere made Yuuki choke despite the lack of need to breathe in VR. She pointed up at him, trying to think of words. Nothing was coming out of her mouth. Maeko gave her a funny look. Kirito tilted his head, confused by her pointing. He blinked at her.

“Is everything okay?” he asked.

She finally found some words.

“That name…” she said.

He straightened up, his eyes widened, and then he let out an awkward chuckle that seemed a lot softer than his initial bold, cocky presence.

“Ah, you recognized me, huh?” he said. “Sorry if that’s a bit weird.”

Yuuki blinked.

“So…you’re really…him?” she stammered.

He gave her an awkward nod. The gamer standing in front of her was the father she’d been trying so hard to find. The entire time they played alongside him, she wasn’t at her best. She couldn’t focus. The man had no idea the girl fighting with him today was his daughter. She wanted to ask him so badly what his real name was and where he lived and if she would be allowed to come and meet him, but it was such bad etiquette.

After they logged off, Maeko asked her what the deal was. She hurriedly dumped as much info as she could on her at a local café, spilling her research and curiosity all at once. Maeko seemed a bit overwhelmed. She ended up slumping back in her chair, unsure of what to do, when a woman at another table came over and made herself comfortable across from them.

“Yer wantin’ info on Kirito?” she said, grinning. “I couldn’t help but overhear ya.”

Yuuki frowned and nodded. Should she just talk to a stranger like this? Her curiosity was winning out over her common sense.

“Yeah, that’s right,” she said. “I’m looking for him in the real world. There’s something I want to tell him.”

The woman smirked, then wrote down some information on a note and passed it to her.

“Since yer a kid, I won’t charge ya in real money, but I will ask for this in exchange,” she said. “Don’t tell Kii-boy I ratted him out to ya, got it?”

She nodded. She didn’t know who this woman was anyways. As the woman nodded, satisfied, she left the table without another word. Yuuki stared down at the slip of paper. On it was an address to an apartment community a short train ride away from Yuuki’s own home and a name written out in furigana for clarification. Yuuki said the name aloud.

“Kiri…gaya…Kazu…to…”

At long last, she had the name of her father. But she had to make sure it was him. So, she’d devised her plan. She borrowed her mother’s old engagement ring, hopped on a train alone, told Maeko to be on stand-by just in case, and made the trek to meet this guy. At first, she’d doubted that he was the right person. A washed-up, clearly depressed single man who clearly did not want to be bothered? Not the same cheeky guy she’d met online the other day. But his rather visceral reaction to seeing the ring made it perfectly clear—this man fathered her.

“Yuuki! Dinner’s ready!”

She snapped out of her daydream and sat the manga down. She’d try to think it through later. First, she was going to try things his way. She’d get to know Kirigaya Kazuto. She’d look for her chance. And when it happened, she’d do whatever she could to make sure her parents got back together.

It couldn’t be that hard, could it?


	5. The Difference a Smile Makes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I had a wild idea for a cute scene, so I hope you like it!!! I always remember how much fun it is for me to write Yuuki in this fic. For my first SAO OC with a distinct personality, I'm falling in love with her more every time I write her.

After a rather long day at work, dealing with a lot of paperwork, I stopped by a convenience store for a few essentials and to restock some food items, like beer and chips. I told myself to not grab as many as I usually did and slipped around the aisle to pick a new razor and maybe a better comb. I squinted at the options. My hand hovered between two when a sudden voice made me jump away from them.

“B..big brother?!”

I turned towards the end of the aisle on my right and saw Suguha standing there, wide-eyed with shock as if it were that wild to see me in the personal care aisle. She was blinking at me as she approached me, and then she stuck her hand up to play with my hair.

“Did you get a haircut?” she asked. “What are you…?”  
She looked down in the basket, which, aside from the beer and chips, was full of soaps, shampoos, and other essential cleaning supplies. She leaned over and sniffed me.

“Are you dating someone?” she asked. “I mean…I’m happy you actually smell good today, and I’m happy you got a really nice haircut and cleaned yourself up and…I haven’t seen that suit in ages…seriously do you have a date?”

I shook my head and snatched a comb off of the rack to toss into my basket.

“It’s normal for a guy to want to keep himself nice,” I muttered, hoping she’d just go with that.

Naturally, she didn’t.

“No, no, no,” she said, following me as I turned down the aisle. “Big brother, you’ve been stewing in a depressed episode ever since Asuna dumped you. You scramble yourself together and if it wasn’t for that big brain of yours, I doubt you’d even be hirable with how washed up you looked. What’s the big change here, hm? A girlfriend? Boyfriend? Promotion.”

I gave her a look.

“No, no, and no,” I said. “I’m not dating anyone and I’m in a comfy position at work. Maybe I just snapped into a better routine, okay? It happens.”

She looked at me with extreme skepticism as I stopped to glance at some breath mints and other breath freshening options. I suppose, on the outside, it did look like I had a date lined up, but internally, I was just griping about Yuuki saying I had booze breath. I picked up some breath strips and squinted at them.

“Why is the font so tiny?” I muttered.

Suguha cleared her throat.

“I don’t buy it,” she said. “Something happened. And for some reason, you don’t want to tell me.”

Being my sister, she was more perceptive than I would have liked. I sighed, tossed the breath strips into the basket, and turned around the aisle. The only thing left on my list of things to buy was a drink for dinner tonight, since I thought it was fine to treat myself to a soda for once. I stepped over to the cooler, selected one out and then closed the door only to have it slam back open and smack me in the face.

“Big brother!” Suguha exclaimed.

I waved her off and glanced down at the source of incident, who was grinning up at me innocently, chuckling at her poorly-timed decision to open up the door. She snatched out a soda and closed it back, waving her now-free hand at me as I rubbed the bridge of my nose.

“Oh, look who it is!” she said. “Do I see that we have the same favorite soda?”

Suguha glanced between us, probably wondering why a kid had started talking so casually to me. I sighed and compared the soda in my hand to the one in Yuuki’s. It was, in fact, the same selection. I gave her a small, forced smile and nodded.

“Yeah…yeah, it seems so,” I said. “What are you doing here?”

Yuuki patted my shoulder and ignored my question completely.

“Is that beer in your basket I see?” she said, sucking her teeth at me. “Goodness, what am I going to do with you? At least I see some basic cleanup items in here. That’s a good start. Not sure what to say about the chips.”

I furrowed my brow.

“What’s wrong with the chips?” I asked.

Yuuki raised her eyebrows and was clearly trying to suppress a giggle. Suguha, though, who was still standing there rather lost, cleared her throat. We both turned to look at her. She pointed at Yuuki.

“Please tell me you’re not dating a teenager,” she said.

At that, Yuuki almost choked. She doubled over laughing so hard that I wanted to reprimand her, but I was nowhere near ready to act like an actual father figure to her. She straightened back up and jabbed a finger at me.

“Ahaha, you look so desperate she thinks I’m your girlfriend!” she wheezed.

I glanced between Suguha and Yuuki and waved my hands.

“I…I do not look desperate!” I said. “Can a guy buy shampoo in peace?”

Suguha drew in a deep breath, clearly wanting answers. Yuuki, on the other hand, dove back into her own train of thought, speeding ahead like she was late for her next stop. She playfully hugged me from the side as she spoke.

“Ah, you know I don’t mean it, dad!” she said. “But I’ll stop badgering you when you put the beers back on the shelf.”

I couldn’t stop that cat from leaping out of the bag. My eyes wandered over to Suguha, who now looked like she might faint. She looked between Yuuki and I for an uncomfortable handful of seconds. I slipped into the line, with Yuuki trailing after me, puppy-dog eyeing me to pay for her soda (which I did) and then clinging on me gratefully like I was the best dad ever as I finished paying for everything. I sidled out of the register area to get back to Suguha with Yuuki still hugging my arm. I handed her her soda and sighed.

“And the best dad ever award goes tooooo…Mr. Kirigaya Kazutoooo!” Yuuki said, cheering like a sports announcer.

I did my best not to smile and let her know that amused me.

“It…it was just a soda,” I mumbled.

She grinned up at me, making me feel like I was gazing into a mirror portal to the past.

“Still,” she said. “Thank you.”

My expression softened, and I finally let her have that smile.

“No problem, kiddo,” I said.

We turned back to see Suguha still staring at us with her mouth hanging open. I glanced around at the store, noting all of the people around us, and then nodded at the door. Suguha followed us out into the parking lot and around the side of the building where there were less people. Sighing, I reached out and put my hand on Yuuki’s head.

“Suguha, this is Yuuki,” I said. “Yuuki, this is my sister, Suguha.”

Yuuki jutted out her hand to shake. Suguha kind of nodded, still shocked, and shook her hand.

“Yuuki and I met the other day,” I said. “Well…why don’t…why don’t you explain?”

Nodding, Yuuki wrapped her arm around my waist and chuckled. 

“My full name is Yuuki Yuuki,” she said. “My mom’s name is Yuuki Asuna.”

My sister’s eyes bugged out.

“Wait, wait, wait…” she said. “Are you telling me…?”

Yuuki nodded again and poked me in the gut with her free hand.

“I spent a lot of time and energy tracking down the man who last slept with her,” she said, sticking her tongue out. “As it would turn out, mom hasn’t dated anyone since a breakup with her ex-fiancé. Thus, conclusively…”

Suguha filled in the dots.

“My brother is your father,” she said, probably more to convince herself than to finish the sentence.

“Bingo!” Yuuki said. “What do you think? Do we look alike?”

As Yuuki sported another smirk, Suguha studied her for a moment before nodding.

“Yeah, that’s my brother’s shit-eating grin alright,” she said, sighing. “Do you realize how complicated this is? I mean, big brother, you haven’t spoken to Asuna since before this kid was born. She just shows up and now what? Does Asuna know about this?”

I shook my head.

“I don’t think a certain someone knows what she’s started,” I said, giving Yuuki a pointed look. “She wants me to meet up with Asuna again. I don’t know if I’m ready to broach that topic, you know?”

Yuuki hummed.

“Since he’s not raring to go to re-spark his romance with my mom, I have no choice but to poke around and pester him like this,” she said, giving me a very dramatic, fake sigh. “He owes me so much, you see? A childhood without a father figure? You cruel man!”

I squinted down at her.

“Need I remind you I had no idea one night without a condom resulted in an energetic lesbian who would hunt me down later for sport,” I said.

Yuuki grinned up at me, giggling.

“You already love me, don’t you, dad?” she teased. “Ah! I see you trying to hold back that smile! You dooooooo!”

I let out a laugh and shook my head, sighing. I guess she could call it that, if that’s what made her feel better. Truthfully, I still wasn’t sure what to call that emotion that tugged at my chest when I saw her smile at me. Was it okay to call it love after only knowing her for a few days? She was my daughter, after all. It was normal for a parent to love their child. Smiling, I nodded. Why not call it that?

“Yeah,” I said. “I do love you already, Yuuki.”

She stopped grinning facetiously for a moment and locked eyes with me. I couldn’t tell what was going through her head, but I imagine it must have been strange. For fourteen years she’d never had a father tell her he loved her, and now here I was telling her that very thing. I suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. That melted away the moment she started tearing up. She wrapped her arms around me tighter and buried her face in my chest.

“Whoa! Yuuki!” I exclaimed.

She sniffled and nuzzled up to me.

“I love you, too, dad,” she said, her voice sounding much smaller than before.

I glanced over at Suguha, who just gave me an awkward smile. I wrapped my arms around Yuuki to return the embrace. I told her she needed to go ahead and run home to her mother, since it was already late. She wiped off her tears and then told me she wouldn’t rat me out about the soda. We shared a laugh about it and I watched as she dashed off in the direction of her home.

“That’s definitely your kid, big brother,” Suguha said, chuckling. “She’s just as needy for touch as you are.”

I chuckled and turned back to her.

“Please don’t tell mom and dad just yet,” I said.

Her eyes widened.

“Why not?” she asked. “I think mom and dad would like to know they’ve been grandparents for fourteen years without realizing it. This is kind of a big secret to keep.”

I shrugged.

“And it’s been kept for a reason,” I said. “I want to get to the point where I can ask Asuna about it, but for now, I feel bad for not telling you, but Asuna had her reasons. Of course, I’ll have to come clean eventually and tell her I know. And that I’ve met Yuuki. And that _you’ve_ met Yuuki, now. But until then, just…please. Please don’t tell our parents.”

Suguha nodded.

“Understood,” she said.

She patted me on the arm and turned to head to her car.

“I’m glad you found out, though,” she said, giving me a small smile. “You seem a little happier now than you did before.”

As she walked away, I stared at her back, looping those words in my head.

“Do I seem happier?” I mumbled.

As I passed a window on my way back to the apartment, I stopped and stared at my reflection for a moment. While I didn’t have that same grin as I did in my youth, Suguha was right. I did look a bit happier. I smiled at my reflection and nodded. I guessed I’d have to thank Yuuki for that later, then.


	6. A Surprise Exchange

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: It has been ages, I know. I got wrapped up in doing my October Challenge, but I'm back! I'm working on a drawing of Kirito and Yuuki for a "cover" for this fic as a part of a personal project to draw a little book cover illustration for each of my fics. When I'm done, I will attach it to the first chapter!

“Yo, dad, can I get a tattoo?”

I groaned, glanced over the cards in my hand, and then looked across the table at Yuuki, giving her a pointed look. She immediately started giggling. I couldn’t tell if she was serious or not. I selected a card and tossed it down on the stack.

“You need to ask your mother about that,” I said.

Yuuki pouted a little, which seemed to be fake.

“But she’ll say no,” she said.

Nodding, I set down my hand and picked up my drink to take a swig of it. As much as Yuuki had protested, I told her I wasn’t just going to cold turkey my alcohol drinking. I was just trying to limit myself better at the moment and take baby steps. She decided upon herself that she would make an ugly face every time I took a sip, though, as a means to try and discourage me. I rolled my eyes as she pulled her neck back like a turtle and scrunched up her face.

“Yeah, and do I look like an idiot who would oppose Asuna?” I said.

Yuuki chuckled.

“I can tell who wore the pants,” she teased.

I shot her a warning look.

“Your mother is a very capable woman,” I said. “She’s strong, smart, kind, and she would run a man through in an instant if he dared to defy her.”

Yuuki hummed. She tossed down a card to make me draw. I sighed and started pulling cards from the draw pile.

“So, that’s right, you met her during ‘the Incident,’ didn’t you?” she said, setting down her cards and waving her fingers in the air for emphasis. “Or did you grow up with her?”

I shook my head.

“No way in hell,” I said. “I met your mother in a dungeon wearing out rapiers like they were expendable items. She’d been running around for like three days with no sleep and I saved her ass from death so I could steal her map data.”

I looked up and saw Yuuki trying not to laugh while she was taking a sip of her soda.

“Mom’s too good of a gamer to be that stupid,” she said. “I don’t believe you.”

Rolling my eyes, I picked up my cards and looked at my draws. I sucked my teeth. Nothing good had come of that hand. Yuuki was definitely going to be winning this round. She tossed down another card to reverse the order, which did nothing more than give her another turn. She hovered her fingers over her cards, humming in thought.

“Your mother had never played a game before SAO,” I said. “But I could always see her potential as a fighter in that world. So, I did my best to tell her everything I knew. And one day, she was able to fly on her own.”

Yuuki finally tossed down a number card.

“You realize you’re talking about a VR game, right?” she said.

Sighing, I nodded.

“Sorry,” I said. “The VR world is my home, so to speak. I’ve spent more time in it than you could understand. It’s where I met Asuna. It’s where I felt the most pain, the most joy, and the most life. I put on that headset and I didn’t have to be Kazuto anymore. I was Asuna’s husband in ALO. My body moved in way I could never move in the real world. It was difficult to come back here.”

Yuuki gave me a concerned look. I laughed pitifully.

“You know that’s why we broke up, right?” I said.

She shook her head.

“Mom never said why she broke up with you,” she said. “She always said that she didn’t want to talk about it. It seems like she’s trying really hard to forget you, but she can’t. But she kept the ring you gave her…and she looks at it with love.”

I played around with the cards in my hand.

“Yuuki,” I said. “You have to understand some things about me in order to understand our breakup. I don’t think she’d fallen out of love with me at all. I think I was just too much of a burden for her. Looking back at it now, I think I understand better. She probably knew she was pregnant and knew that I couldn’t mentally handle that responsibility at the time. So, she did what she always does and tries to handle things on her own.”

Biting her lip, Yuuki stared down at the cards in her hand and appeared to think about that.

“You see, a lot happened that year,” I said. “In short, I was attacked by a serial killer and in critical condition. As a part of the treatment, I was placed in a sort of civilization simulation to stimulate my brain and help it heal itself. But a lot happened, and they didn’t block my awareness of who I was at the time. I still remember what happened in that world, just like I do with SAO.”

Yuuki tilted her head.

“Did…something bad happen there?” she asked, shifting in her seat.

I took a deep breath.

“Someone very close to me lost his life,” I said. “Have you heard of the first true A.I., Alice?”

She nodded enthusiastically.

“She’s so pretty…it’s hard to believe she’s a robot,” she said.

I laughed.

“Well, my…he was just like her,” I said. “Created by humans in a machine but just as human as you or I. I’ve experienced loss before, Yuuki; my parents died when I was a baby, dear friends died in SAO, and I even thought I lost your mother in SAO and after it for a while. But this…this felt so much different. I couldn’t move on. I still sometimes feel like I can’t forget him and move on. And that’s what was hurting Asuna so much. She couldn’t help me, and I think that weighed down on her heart.”

Yuuki nodded.

“And so, when she got pregnant, she thought that she didn’t want to complicate things and split it off?” she concluded.

I huffed.

“I suppose so,” I said. “If she felt like I couldn’t heal to help with you, then she decided to make the hard decision and break it off.”

Yuuki hummed.

“If she _had_ told you and you _had_ stuck around,” she said. “Would you have healed do you think?”

I chuckled.

“Now that’s an odd question,” I said.

I wasn’t sure how to answer it. What would I have done if I’d known Asuna was pregnant? I suppose I would have fought a little harder to pull myself together. I wouldn’t have had the space to worry about myself. Just thinking about it sent images of what could have been through my mind: Asuna telling me the news, a perhaps rather hasty wedding as Mrs. Yuuki complained to me about not being careful, taking care of her while we waited, welcoming our second child into the world. My train of thought stopped there, and I perked up.

“Hey, off-topic, but…”

Yuuki pointed at the cards. She picked up her drink and started to take a large gulp.

“It’s your turn, dad,” she said. “And what?”

I quickly tossed down a card.

“Would you like to meet your sister?” I asked.

Yuuki immediately spat her tea all over the table, cards, and me. I wiped my face off with my hand and gave her an irritated glare.

“That was a bit uncalled for,” I said.

“I HAVE A WHAT?” she exclaimed.

Sighing, I shook my head.

“It’s not what you think,” I said. “Asuna and I adopted an A.I. when we were in SAO. Her data is saved to my belongings, so, in the break-up, Yui stayed with me. It was…very unpleasant explaining to her that we’d broken up. She’s been in an unpleasant mood ever since and doesn’t like to appear very much, but maybe I could get her to come out and say hi if you’re here. She might really be into your ‘set up Mama and Papa’ plan.”

Yuuki started giggling.

“You are so weird,” she said. “You trained an A.I. to call you ‘Papa’? And she trained her to call her ‘Mama’? Oh, man, I’m loving the things you tell me about mom.”

I narrowed my eyes at her.

“Okay, okay,” she said. “I’m done laughing at you two. I’ll entertain you. Where do I plug in my Amusphere?”

I blinked at her.

“You…you already have it on your person?” I stammered.

She laughed again.

“One must always be prepared if the legendary ‘Kirito’ is your hangout buddy,” she said. “Though, it’s odd that the first time you asked me to play a VRMMO with you is now, when you want to show off your A.I. child.”

I rolled my eyes.

“There’s an outlet near the couch you can use unless you really want to approach my bed,” I said.

Yuuki shook her head.

“Not until you learn how to wash your sheets!” she said.

I frowned.

“I wash my sheets!” I said.

She sauntered over to the couch, opened up her backpack, and started to set up her Amusphere.

“Beat you to Granzam in Aincrad, Mister SAO Survivor!” she teased, slipping the machine over her head.

I dashed into my bedroom.

“That’s not fair!” I cried.

Stumbling into the bedroom, I pulled out my Amusphere and plugged it in at lightning speed. I slipped it on over my head, shouted the command to connect, and was quickly transported to my last login location—a small player home in Alne. I bolted off in the direction of Granzam, wondering to myself how I’d recognize her avatar when I saw her. Maybe her name was something goofy like “Yuuki Times Two”. I got to the teleport gate in Granzam and sighed. I would need to search the whole city, too, wouldn’t I? I glanced around, frowning. A Leprechaun player who looked vaguely familiar dashed over towards me. I stepped back a few paces when she ran over close to me.

“Hold…hold up, uh, Raimei, was it?” I said. “I’m looking to meet up with someone, and—”

The Leprechaun girl grinned at me, and suddenly, I felt very bad about this. I’d met this player a while ago in a dungeon. She’d been with her friend, an Undine player named Shark. A pit started to form in my stomach.

“Sorry for not telling you before I dove, dad,” she said. “I thought the shock would be safer here. It does appear we’ve met before in ALO.”

I felt my legs give out, and before I knew it, I was splayed out on the cobblestone on my back.

“Ah, jeez,” Yuuki said. “Are you gonna be okay?”

I groaned and stared up at her.

“What the hell am I going to do with you?” I muttered.

She just giggled.

“You inherited way too much of me,” I grumbled.

She offered me a hand to help me back up.

“So,” she said. “How do I get to meet this Yui?”


	7. Double KO

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I've gotten a lot of puppy dog eyes in DMs and group chats alike for a chapter of this, so, here it is!! 
> 
> Note- a mako is a type of shark!

I insisted that I needed a snack in order to catch my brain up to the shock. Yuuki had played ALO before with me, once teaming up with me in a dungeon to tackle some high-level monsters with her friend. The first question I had was “did you know” of course, since I had no timeline on how long it had taken her to find me in the first place. She’d told me that she connected the dots when she’d run into me, realizing that the name ‘Kirito’ was the same as one she’d seen in some of her mom’s diaries. I sighed and slipped a hot straw in my mouth, numbing myself with the spicy flavor to try and put my mind on something else.

“Shark… _mako_ …Maeko…” I mumbled to myself. “Shark…Maeko… _mako_ …”

Yuuki giggled and nodded her head.

“You’re taking this well, aren’t you, pops?” she teased.

I reached over and flicked her on the forehead.

“Call me ‘pops’ again and I’ll toss you to the ground worms that spew you out in Jotunheim,” I said.

That only made her laugh harder. I rolled my eyes.

“I’m serious,” I said.

She stuck her tongue out at me and then elbowed me. She wrapped her arm around mine. I wanted to tell her off; this wasn’t the place to be touchy with your dad. I stood up abruptly, which made her let go of my arm, and I turned to explain why that was a bad idea when I saw a disturbingly familiar blue and white Undine avatar talking to an equally familiar green and what Sylph avatar with greenish-blond hair. I yelped and ducked behind Yuuki’s avatar. Yuuki turned around and saw what I was looking at. She, too, cried out in distress and then tried to hide behind me. I practically flipped out of the way behind the wall we had been sitting on.

“Gods, why are _you_ hiding?” Yuuki asked. “She can’t get mad at you for using your Amusphere outside of the house!”

I nearly choked.

“You didn’t tell me Asuna said you couldn’t use your Amusphere outside of the house!” I spluttered. “Oh, you are in _so_ much trouble—”

Yuuki clamped a hand over my mouth.

“Shut up, dad!” she exclaimed.

The two avatars moved directly in front of us, facing away so that we were still out of their line of sight. There was no mistaking them—it was definitely Asuna and Suguha. Questions flew through my mind at lightspeed. Had they never stopped speaking to one another? Was this just a coincidence? Was Suguha asking about…?

“Oh no…” I said, though it was a bit muffled by Yuuki’s hand.

She frowned.

“What?” she whispered.

I nodded at Suguha’ avatar and pulled Yuuki’s hand away from my mouth.

“That’s Leafa,” I said. “Leafa is your aunt’s avatar. That’s my sister, Sugu, who you met at the store that one time.”

Yuuki hummed curiously. Perhaps she thought this was as odd as I did. It wasn’t nearly as risky of an interaction as Yuuki and I meeting up, but there was still the risk of something going wrong. If Suguha mentioned to Asuna that she’d met Yuuki, then Asuna would obviously want the context. I wanted to get closer and eavesdrop on them properly, but desperate times called for desperate measures. I went to activate my Listening skill when I felt Yuuki place her hand on my back. I turned and looked at her. She stuck her tongue out at me playfully, and I felt dread fill my stomach.

“So sorry,” she said. “See you on the first floor.”

Before I knew what was happening, my legs were flipping up over the top of the wall, and I was spread-eagle on the cobblestone for a second time since my dive. Two surprised shouts came from the women in front of me. I kept my eyes closed, not wanting to deal with the reactions. I held breath I didn’t even need to hold to try and keep my nerves down. If I was lucky, maybe Asuna would pretend not to recognize me, but there was nothing I could do about Suguha. I picked up my hands and covered my face in a poor attempt to conceal my identity.

“Big brother?” Suguha said. “I thought…what are you…when did you…?”

I didn’t move my hands. I couldn’t bear to look at Asuna’s face. Not after how we left things. I wanted them to just ignore me and keep talking as they walked away. But I didn’t hear the sound of boots scuffing against stone. I didn’t hear the faint sound that occurred when wings were activated. All I felt was a hand reach down and pull one of mine away from my face. I stared up pitifully at Suguha’s avatar and gave her the most pleading face I could.

“I’m sorry,” she said, quietly so that Asuna couldn’t hear. “I should have told you.”

I felt something painful welling up in my throat.

“Damn right you should have,” I managed.

There was no time to be angry with my sister now, though. And in her defense, she had every right to visit with Asuna if she so chose to. I just didn’t want to be in the dark about it. I finally managed to pick myself up off of the ground. I kept my eyes focused on the cobblestones, refusing to make eye contact with Asuna. Suguha patted my shoulder and I turned to look at her. She nodded at Asuna.

“At least say hello,” she whispered.

I lifted my eyes up and finally, after almost fifteen years, looked at Asuna. It wasn’t really her, but her avatar still resembled the real thing well enough. My chest felt heavy as I thought about all of the time I’d missed where I should have been right by her side. I wanted to reach out and pull her into my arms, telling her that I loved her with every fiber of my being. I wanted to kiss her and tell her that she didn’t have to parent our daughter alone anymore. The look on her face was too shocked to read if she still felt anything for me. I swallowed and held up a hand.

“H-hey, Asuna,” I stammered. “It’s been a while.”

She composed herself and gave me a small, polite nod.

“Hello, Kirito,” she said.

Something sharp and painful stabbed my chest when I heard my name without the loving honorific behind it. Subconsciously, I raised my hand to my chest and pressed my fingers to my heart. Nothing beat here in a virtual world, but I could feel it aching nonetheless. I just hoped that it wasn’t evident on my face.

“Sorry to have interrupted,” I said, bowing. “I’ll leave you two to it, then.”

I turned around and went to fly away, but someone reached out and grasped my hand. I turned back around and, to my surprise, it wasn’t Suguha stopping me, but rather Asuna. Our eyes met, and the world stopped for a moment.

“Don’t just go,” she said. “Tell me how you’ve been!”

Surprised, I blinked a few times before turning back to her and casting a nervous glance at Suguha. The only reason I’d felt remotely better recently was because I’d met Yuuki. Admitting that now would probably get me into a hell of a lot of trouble, and lying about being happy with life prior to meeting Yuuki would blow up in my face later since Suguha was right here listening. I just smiled, hoping I could ad-lib this as best as possible.

“Admittedly, it’s been really hard,” I said. “But I’m working to get better. And, um, if you want to meet up somewhere in the real world to discuss work or something…I’d…I wouldn’t mind…I mean…I’d like to…”

Asuna nodded.

“Sure,” she said.

She pulled up her menu and started typing something. She stopped and pressed a button to select something. Moments later, I had a friend request and a message appearing on my end. The pain in my heart started to abate. Asuna wanted to speak to me again. It wasn’t much, but it was a step towards what I, and likely what Yuuki, too, wanted. I accepted the request and saw that the message contained a new phone number. I quickly returned the favor with my own number. We awkwardly waved goodbye, saying we’d be in touch, and then I hurried off to the first floor of Aincrad, eager to let out my pent-up frustration to Yuuki.

I found her relaxing at a little first-floor NPC-run restaurant. She was enjoying a small snack while I dealt with the awkwardness of running into my ex-fiancée. I pulled out a chair and sat down across from her, giving her an irritated look. She grinned over at me and sat back in her chair, patting her stomach.

“That really hit the spot!” she said. “Sooo, how did it go with mom?”

I narrowed my eyes at her.

“When were you going to tell me you aren’t allowed to take your Amusphere to other people’s houses?” I asked.

I hated to be like this, but I had to act like a father and not like her friend. If Yuuki could walk all over me, then I would never find favor in Asuna’s eyes again. Yuuki put on her best puppy eyes and I raised my eyebrows at her.

“I’m waiting,” I said.

Her expression melted into one that probably looked a hell of a lot like mine right now. I suppose it was a rare thing for me to actually act like a parent towards her. She shifted uncomfortably in her chair and looked away from me. She crossed her arms over her chest and puffed up her cheek. I had to resist the urge to comment on how much she resembled Asuna when she did that. She finally let out a strained groan and spoke barely above a whisper.

“I wasn’t.”

I put a hand to my hear.

“What was that?” I said.

She scrunched up into a bit of a human (or Leprechaun?) ball.

“I wasn’t!” she exclaimed. “I wasn’t gonna tell you!”

Several heads turned. This was turning into another potentially misleading situation. I reached across the table, grasped Yuuki’s wrist, and pulled her out away from the crowd. I found somewhere well away from prying eyes to avoid any kind of weird implications that might be misconstrued from our conversation. I sighed and placed my hands on my hips.

“Look, I don’t want to play bad parent,” I said. “But I don’t live with Asuna. I do not know the rules she’s set for you. If you really want us to work things out again, I need you to please be honest with me about the rules Asuna sets. I won’t be mad if we play ALO together, just promise me you’ll do it at home. Your mother makes rules for a reason. I’m not an excuse to break them, understand?”

Yuuki just gave me a silent nod. Sighing again, I waved her over to me. She threw her arms around my waist, buried her face in my chest, and started crying. I supposed she was upset that I’d told her she was wrong. I just hugged her back and stroked her hair while she cried. Truthfully, I felt like crying myself. I hadn’t realized that it would hurt _me_ to see her so upset over getting reprimanded. I gently kissed the top of her head.

“Hey, I still love you, kiddo,” I said. “Your mom probably just doesn’t want you to lose something that expensive. And maybe after Asuna and I meet up again and talk about things, we can discuss if you’re allowed to have your Amusphere at my place, okay?”

She nodded against my chest. I smiled down at her. But to my surprise, a small fairy lighted on top of Yuuki’s head, staring up at me with an irritated look on her face. I almost cried out with joy seeing her there, even if she didn’t look to pleased with me. She crossed her arms over her chest a huffed.

“Papa, why are you clinging to another girl!” she cried.

I laughed when Yuuki jumped backwards, startled by the voice. I held out my hand as Yui flitted off of Yuuki’s head and landed in my palm. I shook my head.

“No, Yui,” I said. “You misunderstand. This is your little sister.”

Yui’s eyes went wide. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. She knew that Asuna and I had broken it off, but hearing that she had a little sister meant that I was a father in the real world. She turned and looked at Yuuki, frowning. I stepped over closer to Yuuki so the two weren’t so awkwardly distant.

“Yui, this is Raimei,” I said. “Her real name is Yuuki. In the real world, she’s Mama and Papa’s daughter.”

Yui stared at Yuuki for a moment and then looked back at me.

“Yours…and Mama’s?” she repeated.

I nodded.

“She wanted to meet you and tell you something,” I said.

Yui flew out of my hand and went over to Yuuki, who cupped her hands for Yui to sit in. Yui looked up at her expectantly. Yuuki swallowed and looked over at me. I nodded. Yuuki smiled and laughed a little, probably nervous.

“N-nice to meet you,” she stammered. “Dad said you were very hurt by the breakup between him and Mom, so I wanted to let you know that I want them back together, too.”

The little AI fairy smiled up at Yuuki.

“Papa and Mama are perfect for one another!” Yui replied.

Laughing, Yuuki nodded her head.

“Will you help me get them back together?” Yuuki asked.

Yui leapt out of Yuuki’s palms and threw her little fists into the air excitedly.

“Of course, I will!” she exclaimed.

All I could do was chuckle as I watched them start to plot out a plan right in front of me. Today had brought many surprises, some of which were a lot to swallow. But it had also brought me the second chance I wasn’t sure of how to get. I glanced back at my inbox later that evening to transfer Asuna’s new phone number to mine. Staring down at the contact in my phone brought back an almost childish feeling in my chest—giddiness. I smiled at my phone and hesitatingly typed a quick message to her.

_It was good to see you again. – Kirito_

I set my phone down beside my bed and crawled into it. Yuuji meowed by the bedside. I patted the surface, and he hopped up to crawl over me and curl up next to my head. As I went to put my head down, I saw my phone light up. I reached over and looked at the notification. It was a response from Asuna. My heart pounded against my ribcage as I opened the message.

_Same here. I’ll look at my schedule in the morning and we can plan a date. Sound good?_

Feeling about twenty years younger, I punched my fist in the air. I quickly typed back that it sounded good and I would talk to her later. My heart was too excited to let me sleep, though. I snuggled up to my cat and tried not to let my hopes go too wildly out of control. I had to take this slowly, one meager step at a time.

I supposed that the next time I saw her, I’d have to thank my little wingman.


End file.
